Abstract
Playing weiqi, as a unique mode of communication for the ancients, has historically developed into a metaphorical behavioral gesture or visual image. By the Song dynasty, playing weiqi had become an important element in painting. Inheriting the conceptual heritage and iconographic conventions of predecessors, the visual image of playing weiqi in the Song dynasty continued to develop, which showcased people's value pursuit at that time. The weiqi game, as a symbol of “holistic form,” conveys meaning through non—linear spatial layouts and comprehensive sensory experiences in the Song cultural context. Based on the operational characteristics of the game itself and the construction of meaning in previous dynasties, Song paintings of weiqi playing engaged with political metaphors in traditional beliefs. On the basis of political symbolism in reality, the weiqi game in Song paintings combined with the literati's concepts of leisure and sentiment towards landscape. Those paintings became a visual expression of the literati's ideal of transcending the constraints of reality. The unique taste of the literati associated with weiqi further enabled its evolution in terms of visual symbolic meaning, which greatly appealed to the imagination of the Song public towards the ideal state of life.
Keywords
weiqi iconography, symbol, the Song dynasty, implication
First Page
82
Last Page
94
Recommended Citation
Xi, Peichong. 2025. "Evolving Symbols: A Study of the Triple Implications of the Weiqi Iconography in the Song Dynasty." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (6): pp.82-94. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss6/9
